Language has a great role in establishing identity of a person and a community. As such, the people irrespective of region, creed and religion must value their language and pass it on to the next generation. This was stated by the J&K Cooperative Minister, Chhering Dorjey while addressing an inaugural function of the 2-day Ladakh Multilingual Literary Conference at Leh organized by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Leh.A galaxy of writers, intellectuals and scholars from both Leh and Kargil districts are participating in the conference and would present their papers on different topics such as origin and development of languages and challenges and opportunities for six languages which are spoken in Ladakh including Purgi, Balti, Shina, Dardi, Urdu and Bhoti.
Advocating greater thrust on the preservation of Purgi, Balti, Shina, Dardi and Bhoti languages, Chhering Dorjey said that Balti and Purgi languages spoken in Ladakh are closely correlated with Bhoti, and as such, it is high time for the Purgi and Balti speaking people to think for learning Bhoti script in order to perfectly pronounce and project these important languages. The Minister said that the issue of recognition of Bhoti in 8th Schedule is a common goal of the people of Ladakh which is important for preservation and promotion of the distinct art, culture, literature and languages of this region. The Minister also urged for having such interactive conferences in future involving the writers and scholars of Leh and Kargil which would not only promote different languages spoken in Ladakh but would also bring the people of Leh and Kargil closer.The Minister further said that Cultural Centre each for Leh and Kargil would come up during the 13th 5 Year plan and in this regard, he asked the J&K Academy for timely submission of DPRs. The Minister announced Rs 2.00 lakh from his Area Dev. Fund for development of Lotsawa Hall of Academy Leh.
The Secretary, J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Dr. Aziz Hajini who was present on the occasion said that writers and scholars should play the role of intellectual leadership among the society in strengthening the importance of oneness and brotherhood through their pens. For this, Government would provide opportunities and facilities to spread these values, he added. He assured that J&K Academy would take every possible step to preserve and promote the diversified cultural values of J&K State by strengthening the cultural institutions with financial independence.Earlier, the Special Officer for Culture, Tsewang Paljor in his welcome address said that this is the first ever interactive conference of scholars and intellectuals of different regional languages from Leh and Kargil districts which is mainly aimed at bringing the people closer and exchange and reiterate their old cultural and traditional bonds.At the inaugural session, Dr. Nawang Tsering read out the key note address while as Gelong Thupstan Paldan presented his paper titled “Challenges and Opportunities of Bhoti language. Similarly, Mr. Mohammad Siddique Hardassi presented his paper on “origin and development of Balti language.On this occasion, the Minister released Academy’s annual books “ Shiraza”. Besides, a book titled “Ladakh then and now” written by Haji Zain-ul-Abidin and another poetry book “ Diwan-e-Khayal” written by Jigmet Khayal Ladakhi were also released.